Boston University’s health law, bioethics and human rights department at the School of Public Health focuses on law and public policy, as well as patients’ rights. Chairman George Annas, as well as Dr. Michael Grodin, Wendy Mariner and Leonard Glantz, are pre-eminent scholars in the field. Kara Peterson is the director of communications.

The University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics in Philadelphia is one of the pre-eminent bioethics centers in the United States, with more than 20 faculty. The center’s staff includes experts in philosophy, medicine, law, anthropology, sociology and religion. Its website is an excellent place to start an exploration of any bioethics topic and is also home to The American Journal of Bioethics.

The American College of Physicians – American Society of Internal Medicine’s Center for Ethics and Professionalism focuses on developing and carrying out policy on issues related to medical ethics. Its ethics and human rights committee develops educational programs on bioethics, human rights and professionalism.

The nonprofit Hastings Center in Garrison, N.Y., explores bioethics questions in health care, biotechnology and the environment. Recent research projects range from genetic paternity testing to newborn screening to palliative care. Susan Gilbert is the director of communications.

The Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research/Applied Research Ethics National Association in Boston focuses on the ethics of human and animal research. It organizes conferences each year that are attended by researchers, subject advocates, ethicists, policy-makers, attorneys and pharmaceutical and biotech leaders. Meredith Elkins is director of marketing and communications.

The American Society for Bioethics and Humanities in Glenview, Ill., is a professional advocacy group that brings together bioethicists from medicine, nursing, law, sociology, anthropology, government and philosophy. The society organizes a large educational conference each year and periodic smaller, topical meetings.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics in the United Kingdom was established in 1991 to identify and assess ethical questions raised by advances in biological and medical research. Since 1994, it has been funded jointly by The Nuffield Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. Two current projects focus on prolonging life in fetuses and the […]

The World Health Organization’s web site contains information about the Human Genome Project, xenotransplantation and other bioethics issues. The site also includes Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences information about human subject research across borders.

The National Human Genome Research Institute is headed by Dr. Eric D. Green at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., who directed the Human Genome Project. The Genome Research Institute established a program in 1990 to foster basic and applied research on the ethical, legal and social implications of genetic and genomic research for individuals, families and […]